When you are missing one or more teeth, the gap can be eliminated with a bridge. This restoration looks just like your natural teeth and also serves to keep your teeth aligned correctly. Top Thousand Oaks dentist, Dr. Chow provides his patients with a dental bridge to both enhance their smiles and maintain oral health.
Dental Bridges
To remedy a missing tooth with a bridge, the two teeth flanking the gap are capped with crowns. A false tooth is attached between each crown, fulfilling the function of the previously missing tooth. The whole restoration is one piece and fixed permanently. The two crowned teeth on either side of the gap provide the anchor to hold the bridge in place. If you already have crowns covering the teeth surrounding a gap, or they need crowns, a bridge may be a good option.
The reason is because these teeth, in order for a crown to fit over them, must be shaved down. If those surrounding teeth are not crowned yet and are healthy, a better alternative may be a dental implant. A gap left by a missing tooth is an invitation for trouble. Without a substitute tooth, the surrounding teeth will start to shift their position into the empty space. This will in turn affect your bite, open the door to gum disease, and TMJ (temporomandibular joint) problems. Dr. Albert Chow provides one the best economical choices for a dental bridges in Thousand Oaks.
Meet Dr. Albert Chow at ModelSmile Dentistry
Procedure For Getting Your Dental Bridge
Once the anchoring teeth have been shaved down in size, Dr. Chow will take an impression of your teeth. This impression will be made into a mold that exactly represents your teeth, including their size and position. He will also use a shade guide to be sure porcelain crowns match your other teeth, unless you opt for a metal crown.
Your bridge and crowns will be custom made in a lab with the specifics supplied by Dr. Chow. It's possible a temporary bridge will by placed while your permanent bridge is being made. When it is ready, Dr. Chow will remove the temporary bridge and cement the permanent bridge in place via the anchoring crowns on either side of the gap.
